Rain barrel fall update

The New Castle County Rain Barrel Sale is happening again and it reminded me to update our own rain barrel experience.

We learned a lot using the rain barrel this season. Turns out, sitting it level on the ground was not a good option for watering raised garden beds. Sitting it on the ground and having the hose connected with the spigot on the upper option prevented us from fully draining the barrel. No thanks. We have enough mosquitos already. Hot and steamy is not how I want my rain barrels.

James then fabricated a metal and wood base for the rain barrel. We moved the hose to the lower position and now everything works perfectly as expected.

If you’d like your own rain barrel installed, please let us know.

Rain barrel installation - complete!

Our new rain barrel, courtesy of New Castle County’s Clean Stream program, has been successfully installed. The rain barrel kit came with well written, easy to follow instructions.

Tips for choosing a rain barrel location:

• The rain barrel should be located near where you intend to use the water.

• It must be close enough to a downspout.

• The ground must be level.

We chose to install the rain barrel in our back yard attached to a downspout near a raised garden bed. After leveling the ground, we placed a 24 inch x 24 inch paver. for the barrel to sit on. You don’t have to place the rain barrel on anything, but for $20, this paver from Lowes is what we chose.

Since it’s already starting to freeze at night, we will now winterize the rain barrel and install the winter plug on the downspout. The EarthMinded Rain Barrel, from the NCC program, comes with a winter plug is included in the kit.

Overall, this appears to be a great value at $50 for New Castle County residents. The NCC Clean Stream Champion program opens up again in the spring.

Grogan’s Gutters will install your rain barrel free of charge with any other booked service.